Oral Traditions as Philosophy: Okot P'Bitek's Legacy for African Philosophy [Hardcover]

Chapter 2 explores the differing assumptions of what constitutes the philosophical and the religious and indeed whether such a dichotomy is appropriate in the African context. The abstract orientation in Western philosophy is contrasted with the narrative African bent. One of the themes of discussion is the different set of assumptions adopted by, on the one hand, African theologians such as John S. Mbiti and Bolaji Idowu and, on the other, by philosophers such as Paulin Hountondj i, Kwasi Wiredu, and Tsenay Serequeberhan. The history of Western philosophy is sketched with a view to finding openings for cross disciplinary dialogue.
A characteristic of p'Bitek's songs is that they are composed primarily to be sung out loud and performed, and only later did he translate and write them. This characteristic frames the discussion for chapter 3. Are the songs suitable vehicles for transmitting rigorous, intellectual discourse? How does one resolve issues of author(ity) and ownership of oral traditions? A discussion of the imagined benefits of written over oral texts provides an opening for rethinking the notion of what constitutes a text.
Chapter 4 examines the issue of whether depictions of women, strangers, and "others" within oral traditions marginalize these groups. Are oral traditions misogynistic? This question of whether the assumptions that marginalize women are deeply rooted in oral traditions is a crucial one in light of the underrepresentation of women in academic African philosophy and the political mainstream.
p'Bitek's passion, Africans religions, forms the theme of chapter 5. If religion is the most important aspects of a people's culture, it is crucial that this aspect be understood as the people themselves practice it. One of the key areas of interaction between Europe and Africa was religion and the work of missionaries and their African accomplices. The discussion in this chapter is mainly about the interaction of Christian missionaries with African religions. The chapter ends with a criticism of p'Bitek for failing to grasp the centrality of Islam to the lives of many Africans.
Whenever different cultures interact, a familiar problem arises. Chapter 6 poses the problem of the search for equivalent concepts across cultures and languages. If languages are not comparable in terms of their vocabulary and concepts, how do interested parties transmit important concepts across the languages? The discussion is indeed one about whether the determination of "important" concepts is culturally or linguistically dependent. The implications of this problem are explored. What are the cultural universals and particulars? The possibility of understanding other cultures and other societies lies at the heart of the question. The implications for positions that extol uniqueness, such as negritude and Afrocentrism, are also discussed.
Chapter 7 takes up again an aspect of the discussion of African understandings of the self. The discussion here is about the place of the individual in society. The body of work that shows Africans to privilege community over individual is examined. In particular, Julius Nyerere's Ujamaa, Kwame Nkrumah's "African personality," and Leopold Sedar Senghor's negritude are contrasted with the work of philosophers such as Ifeanyi Menkiti and Kwame Gyekye.
"What ought I to do?" is the guiding question of chapter 8. The task ahead is seen differently by African scholars. p'Bitek's view is discussed side by side with Frantz Fanon's call for revolution. Africa, despite its current problems, is indeed full of possibilities. There are many paths open to her future. Taking seriously the need to articulate African solutions to African problems, this chapter compares scholars who exhibit a creative resourcefulness in synthesizing and understanding African history with those that expertly ape Western theories and solutions. p'Bitek's challenge that the African scholar and philosopher must engage with African ideas and experiences forms the basis of the discussion.